Cajuns end slide with 96-59 win against Arkansas State

The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns busted out of their three-game skid in a big way Thursday night, blasting Arkansas State, 96-59, at the Cajundome behind 27 points from Shawn Long.
Long, a Morgan City High alum, hit 10-for-11 from the floor — including a career-high five three-point shots — on his way to a season-high scoring output. He needed just 19 minutes to put his night together, adding six boards and a pair of blocks.
But after Long’s 4-for-4 first half from behind the arc accounted for the only UL (11-8, 5-3 SBC) long balls, the Cajuns lit it up from behind the arc in the second period, hitting 10-of-11 on three balls. Four of those came from Hayward Register, who was the only other Cajun in double figures with a career-high 19 points on a night in which 14 players hit the court and 12 cracked the scoring column.
The 14-for-22 night as a team from three-point range came on the heels of a 2-for-18 performance Monday against Louisiana-Monroe.
Defensively, the Cajuns were as good as they have been all year, holding the Red Wolves (8-10, 3-6 SBC) to just 37.9 percent from the floor and keeping all-SBC candidate Anthony Livingston in check with just two points and four rebounds.
Point guard P.J. Hardwick led Arkansas State with 17 points as the only player in double figures.
Brian Williams just missed double figures for the Cajuns with nine points and three rebounds, and Bryce Washington was the only player for UL to play 20 minutes in the game and finished with seven points, seven rebounds, five assists and one turnover.
J.J. Davenport also added a spark off the bench with six points and four rebounds in just 13 minutes.
The Cajuns were on fire in the first half, led by 21 points from Long. The big man hit all four of his tries from three-point range, and UL hit 51.6 percent from the floor to build a 51-28 advantage at the break.
Arkansas State put in the game’s first bucket, but the Cajuns answered with the next seven points and were off and running from there.
UL used 13 players in the opening half, getting scores from eight.
A pair of foul shots from Register pushed the lead to double figures for the first time, and an 8-2 run late in the half upped the advantage to 42-21 on Davenport’s third bucket of the period.
UL held the Red Wolves without a field goal for the final 2:01, and Long had a stretch of scoring eight straight points before capping the half with a straightaway triple just before the buzzer to give the Cajuns the 23-point halftime advantage.
In the second period, the Cajuns started fast again, going on a 10-2 run to open the period and never let their foot off the gas.
Long, Williams and Wright each hit treys to start the period, and the Cajuns hit each of their last seven tries from long range to end the half.
The lead grew to as much as 38 points with under two minutes to play with Register scoring 14 consecutive points in less than a four-minute span late in the half.
The Cajuns shot nearly 60 percent from the floor in the second 20 minutes, 17 coming from Register.
Meanwhile, seven other Cajuns joined in the second-half fun, including Tiremone Williams hitting a pair of threes and Vieux Kande adding five points and three rebounds.
The Ragin’ Cajuns will now travel to Atlanta for a Saturday afternoon meeting with Georgia State. The game will be aired online on ESPN3 with tipoff scheduled for 2 p.m.